Semi-automatic etching machine



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O/A/eL 5 W .04 W0 BY United States Patent This invention relates generally to the plastic etching art, and, more particularly, to a novel semi-automatic machine for carrying out a color etching process on articles made from plastic materials or tr e like.

At the present time it is common practice in many industries and businesses to use comparator charts, electrical circuits embedded in plastic materials, specification sheets wherein the specifications are color etched in plastic sheets, and other like articles having etched written material, configurations or the like. Heretofore, these etched articles have been made by various processes which are manually performed, costly, and time consuming. Accordingly, it is an important object of the present invention to provide a semi-automatic machine for carrying out a. color etch process for etching a design, written material, or the like in the surface of a sheet of plastic or dielectric material, and wherein the resulting etch marks or lines are fashioned to a predetermined width and depth and are provided with any desired deposit material, and which deposit material may have any desired color and electrical characteristics.

it is another object of the present invention to provide a semi-automatic machine for color etching designs and written material in the surface of a plastic or dielectric material with a degree of accuracy heretofore not possible with the prior art devices and manual means for carrying out color etching processes.

it is a further object of the present invention to provide a novel and improved semiautomatic color etch process machine which is provided with a plurality of work stations which are constructed and arranged so that an operator of the machine can quickly and accurately process a plurality of plastic sheets or articles through the machine, from the first or storage station through the various processing steps and to the final or wrapping station.

it is still another object or" the present invention to provide a semiautomatic color etch process machine which is constructed to provide a plurality of work stations in a novel and compact arrangement, whereby a plurality of plastic sheets or articles may be simultaneously processed through the machine in a fast and ehlcient manner and yet produce accurately etched designs or the like on the plastic sheets or articlesv it is still another object of the present invention to provide a semi-automatic machine which is capable of color etching a large quantity of plastic articles in a minimum of time and with a high degree of accuracy and which machine is compact, light in weight and simple in overall construction, economical of manufacture and in which the various work stations are physically mterconnected, and electrically interconnected by means of a novelelectrical control system.

While it will be apparent that the preferred embodiment of the invention herein disclosed is well calculated to fulfill the objects above stated, it will be appreciated that the invention is susceptible to modification, variation and change without departing from, the proper scope or fair meaning of the suhjoined claims.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of a semi-automatic etchin machine made in accordance with the principles of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged, fragmentary, front elevational View of the structure illustrated in FIG. 1, taken along the line 2-2 thereof and looking in the direction of the arrows;

FIG. 3 is a front perspective view of the structure illustrated in FIG. 2, and looking down on machine Stations 4-, 5, 6, 7 and 8;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged, fragmentary, front perspective View of the left end of the structure shown in MG. 2, and looking down onto machine Stations 4 and 5;

PEG. 5 is an enlarged, fragmentary, top perspective View of the structure illustrated in MG. 2, taken along the line thereof and looking in the direction of the arrows;

FEG. 6 is an enlarged, fragmentary, top perspective view of the structure illustrated in MG. 2, taken along the line 6ti thereof and looking in the direction of the arrows;

FlG. 7 is a fragmentary, top rear perspective view of the structure illustrated in FIG. 5, taken in the direction of the arrow marked 7;

FlG. 8 is an enlarged, fragmentary, top rear perspective VlGW of the structure illustrated in FlG. 3, taken along the line thereof and looking in the direction of the arrows;

PEG. 9 is an enlarged, elevational perspective view of the structure illustrated in PEG. 3, and taken in the direction of the arrow marked 9;

FIG. 10 is an enlarged, broken, elevational sectional View of the structure illustrated in HG. 1, taken along the line ltlltl thereof, looking in the direction of t e arrows, and showing machine Station No. 2;

FIG. it is an enlarged, broken, elevational sectional view of the structure of machine Station No. 4, with parts removed, and taken along the line Itll1 of FIG. 4, and looking in the direction of the arrows;

PEG. 1?. is an enlarged, broken, elevational sectional view of the structure of machine Station N o. 6, with parts removed, taken along the line 12-12 of HQ. 3, and looking in the direction of the arrows;

FIG. l3 is an enlarged, broken, elevational sectional view of the structure of machine Station No. 7, ith parts removed, taizen along the line l3ll3 of FIG. 3, and looking in the direction of the arrows;

FIG. 14 is an enlarged, broken, elevational sectional view of the structure or" machine Station No. 8, with parts removed, taken along the line le -l t of FIG. 2, and looking in the direction of the arrows;

FIG. 15 is an enlarged, broken, elevational sectional view of the structure of machine Station No. 9, with parts removed, taken along the line St5-l5 of FIG. 1, and looking in the direction of the arrows;

FIG. 16 is an enlar ed, broken, elevational view of the struct re of machine Station No. along the line ltition of the arrows;

FIG. 17 shows a first portion of the electronic control circuit for the machine illustrated in PEG. 1;

PEG. 18 shows the second portion of the electronic control circuit for the machine illustrated in FIG. 1, and this second circuit is a continuation of the first circuit portion shown in FIG. l7;

FIG. 19 shows an illustrative pneumatic circuit employed in the machine illustrated in PEG. 1;

FIG. 20 is a schematic diagram of the fluid drain sys tem employed in the machine illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 21 is a schematic diagram of the water intake system employed in the machine illustrated in MG. 1;

PEG. 22 is an enlarged elevational sectional view of the push button control panel structure employed in the machine of the present invention, taken along the line 22Z2 of PEG. 6, and looking in the direction of the arrows; and,

PEG. 23 shows a sheet of plastic material which may be sectional l2 taken d of P16. 1, and looking in the direc- 

1. IN A SEMI-AUTOMATIC ETCHING MACHINE FOR CARRYING OUT AN ETCHING PROCESS FOR COLOR ETCHING DESIGNS AND WRITTEN MATERIAL IN THE SURFACE OF A SHEET OF PLASTIC MATERIAL, THE COMBINATION, COMPRISING: A FRAME; A PLURALITY OF WORK STATIONS MOUNTED ON SAID FRAME; SAID WORK STATIONS INCLUDING, A STATION FOR LOADING, A STATION FOR CLEANING THE SHEET OF PLASTIC MATERIAL, A STATION FOR COATING THE SHEET OF PLASTIC MATERIAL WITH A WETTING SOLUTION, AT LEAST ONE STATION FOR COATING THE SHEET OF PLASTIC MATERIAL WITH A LIGHT SENSITIVE MATERIAL, A STATION FOR MOUNTING A MASTER TRANSPARENT DESIGN TEMPLATE ON THE COATED SHEET OF PLASTIC MATERIAL AND EXPOSING THE SAME TO A LIGHT SOURCE, A STATION FOR DEVELOPING OUT THE UNEXPOSED COATING COVERED BY THE MASTER TEMPLATE, A STATION FOR APPLYING A COLOR ETCHING FORMULATION ON THE SHEET OF PLASTIC MATERIAL FOR ETCHING AND COLORING THE DESIGN OF THE MASTER TEMPLATE IN THE SHEET OF PLASTIC MATERIAL, A STATION FOR VIEWING THE ETCHED SHEET OF PLASTIC MATERIAL, A STATION FOR WASHING OFF THE LIGHT SENSITIVE MATERIAL, A STATION FOR RINSING THE SHEET OF PLASTIC MATERIAL IN A CLEANING SOLUTION, AND A STATION FOR DRYING THE ETCHED SHEET OF PLASTIC MATERIAL. 